How Much Does an MRI Shoulder Cost in Missouri?
Mri joint upr extrem w/o dye
$307Hospital outpatient total2026 Medicare, physician + facilityUnder 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI shoulder costs up to about $307 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Missouri averages $192, from $183 in Rest of Missouri to $198 in Metropolitan St. Louis.
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- ✓The add-on codes that typically land on the bill
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- ✓Everything in the Premium report
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Missouri Medicare physician rate (2026)
-6.4% vs nationalAverage of 3 localities. Office range $183.20–$197.50.
What the whole procedure costs
The office rate above is what an imaging center, lab or office is paid for the whole test. In a hospital, the facility bills its own fee and the physician bills only the reading. These are 2026 national Medicare amounts.
Medicare may pay the facility separately for this code or package it into another service on the same day, so treat the facility share as an upper bound. For a test like this the physician in a hospital bills only the reading (the professional component); outside a hospital one global fee covers the whole test, shown in the office rate above. Medicare allowed amounts are not what an uninsured patient is charged, and not a quote. Private plans typically allow more.
Your ZIP in Missouri
Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
What MRI shoulder costs at hospitals near you
Everything above is a national average. The hospital you pick in Missouri moves the bill more than anything else you control.
Rates for your ZIP, 5 named hospitals with CMS ratings, the add-on codes, and the scheduler script.
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What these numbers are
Every figure on this page is a 2026 Medicare allowed amount: the physician line comes from the Physician Fee Schedule adjusted by geographic practice-cost indices, and the facility totals come from the CMS hospital outpatient (OPPS) and ambulatory surgery center rates. None of them is a hospital chargemaster price, your insurer's contracted rate, or a quote. Anesthesia, pathology, imaging reads and follow-up care are billed under their own codes when they apply, and an inpatient stay is paid a different way again. In Missouri the office and hospital physician lines for this CPT differ by $130.31.
National vs Missouri
Where Missouri ranks for this CPT
CPT 73221 by Missouri locality
| Locality | Office |
|---|---|
| metropolitan st. louis | $197.50 |
| metropolitan kansas city | $195.38 |
| rest of missouri | $183.20 |
PE GPCI ranges from 0.862 to 0.952 in Missouri. That index is why the same CPT is not one price statewide.
MRI Shoulder and how Missouri is priced
Missouri is a three-locality state: metropolitan St. Louis and metropolitan Kansas City are each priced separately, and everywhere else falls into a rest-of-state locality with lower geographic adjustments. Both metro localities approve higher amounts than outstate Missouri, and the Kansas City locality applies only to the Missouri side of that metro, since the Kansas side prices under Kansas's statewide locality. Springfield, Columbia, and the rural counties all share rest-of-state factors. The metro-versus-outstate gap is the main pricing story here.
St. Louis and Kansas City hold the state's academic medical centers and most of its specialty depth, drawing patients from far beyond Missouri's borders, including southern Illinois and eastern Kansas. Outstate Missouri is served by regional hubs in Springfield, Columbia, and Cape Girardeau, with the Ozarks and Bootheel among the harder places to reach specialty care. Rural hospital viability has been a persistent concern across the state.
This procedure: A shoulder MRI without contrast (the upper extremity joint MRI code) images the rotator cuff tendons, labrum, and cartilage that X-rays cannot see, making it the key test for suspected rotator cuff tears and persistent shoulder pain. You lie still with the arm positioned at your side inside the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes. It is painless, though holding a sore shoulder motionless is the hardest part for many patients.
What Is MRI Shoulder?
A shoulder MRI without contrast (the upper extremity joint MRI code) images the rotator cuff tendons, labrum, and cartilage that X-rays cannot see, making it the key test for suspected rotator cuff tears and persistent shoulder pain. You lie still with the arm positioned at your side inside the scanner for 20 to 40 minutes. It is painless, though holding a sore shoulder motionless is the hardest part for many patients.
What Affects the Cost
- –Freestanding imaging centers price this scan dramatically below hospital outpatient departments.
- –Suspected labral tears sometimes require an MR arthrogram instead, where dye is injected directly into the joint first, adding an injection procedure and a different code.
- –Insurers frequently require completed X-rays and weeks of conservative care before approving, so those upstream costs are part of the pathway.
- –A positive finding often leads to orthopedic consultation, injections, or arthroscopic surgery, each a new spending episode.
- –The radiologist's reading fee is a separate component of the total.
Questions to Ask Before Booking
- 1.Does my insurer require X-rays and therapy first, and does my record show them?
- 2.Do you suspect a labral tear needing an arthrogram, and how much more does that cost?
- 3.What is the price at a freestanding center versus the hospital?
- 4.Will the surgeon you might refer me to accept this facility's images, or would I face a rescan?
- 5.Is the radiologist fee included in the quote?
Other featured procedures in Missouri
MRI Shoulder in other states
MRI Shoulder in Missouri: questions
Under 2026 Medicare rates, an MRI shoulder costs up to about $307 in total at a hospital outpatient department, counting both the physician and the facility (national rates). Outside a hospital, at an independent imaging center, lab or office, Medicare's full rate in Missouri averages $192, from $183 in Rest of Missouri to $198 in Metropolitan St. Louis. Enter a ZIP for the exact Missouri locality.
Yes. CMS splits Missouri into 3 payment localities. For this CPT the office physician fee spans $14.30 from the lowest to highest locality. Enter a ZIP code to see which Missouri locality covers you: metro St. Louis, metro Kansas City, or rest-of-state areas like Springfield, Columbia, Joplin, and the Bootheel.
After the Part B deductible, coinsurance is usually 20% of the allowed amount: about $38 for the office physician line or $12 for the hospital physician line in Missouri. Medigap may cover that 20%. This is not the hospital facility fee.
It depends on where the test is done. At an independent imaging center, lab or office, $192.03 is Medicare's full rate in Missouri, covering the test and the reading. In a hospital outpatient department the physician is paid only for the reading (about $61.72) and the hospital is paid separately, which brings the national total to up to about $307. Missouri ranks #15 of 51 states on the non-hospital rate (6% below the national office rate of $205.08).